


The Two Queens

by plalligator



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: Academia, Epistolary, Female Character of Color, Female Friendship, Female-Centric, Future Fic, Gen, Historians, Meta, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 11:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2810414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plalligator/pseuds/plalligator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Treatise on the Partnership Between Eddis Thēlykό and Attolia Έndoxē During the Golden Age (Excerpts from the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2)</p>
<p>compiled by the scholar Sophia in the year 1022</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilacsigil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsigil/gifts).



> Happy holidays, lilacsigil! I hope you enjoy. Your prompt was great fun to work with. :D

**From the Introduction:**

...traditionally, the three countries known as Eddia or Eddis, Attolia or Attolis, and Sounia or Sounis had chosen to ally with and against each other as the occasion demanded, and any alliance was likely to be temporary, formed on a military basis, and conducted through mid-level functionaries and generals rather than through the ruling house. However, during the Mede War and the subsequent Golden Age the three countries enjoyed an unusual closeness and mutual reliance that continued for many years despite earlier conflict.

This period of peace is attributed to many factors. Much credit is given to Attolis Eugenides, the Annux of the Golden Age. His ascension to the Attolian throne is popularly recognized as having a strong influence, as is the succession to the throne of the young heir of Sounis, who was friendly to the king of Attolia and served to mend the relationship between those two countries. Less often recognized is the strong personal relationship between the 14th Queen of Eddis, commonly referred to as Eddis Thēlykό [1], and the 16th Queen of Attolia, commonly referred to as Attolia Έndoxē [2], that was the true basis for the decades-long alliance between the two nations. The world had never before seen such a partnership, and may not again. It was an alliance unmatched in scope, in its beginnings, and in its particulars. Perhaps most remarkably, the connection was not only political, but a closely personal relationship.

This friendship has rarely been explored in depth in the study of history, and this work aims, among other things, to rectify this imbalance.

[1] from the word “θηλυκό”, meaning “female”, a reference to her status as the first and final female ruler of the country to take the title “Eddis” instead of “Eddia”

[2] from “ένδοξη”, meaning “glorious”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scholar Sophia is of mixed Eddisian/Attolian heritage. Her Eddisian ancestors moved to the lowlands of Attolia in about 830, before the eruption of the Sacred Mountain. She studied first at a university on the continent but returned to the peninsula to work in the Royal Archives of Attolia at Ephrata. 
> 
> Her area of speciality is Attolian-Eddisian relations, but she has great interest in Eddisian folk culture, especially the myths and legends of the Hephestial mountains.


	2. Overcoming the Differences

**From Chapter 1: Overcoming the Differences**

From the beginning, the two women were not destined for friendship. Eddis Thēlykό, known before her coronation by her birth name, Helen, became her father’s heir after the death of her two older brothers from fever, and ascended peacefully to the throne after his death in 807, enjoying the support of her barons throughout her rule. She was not considered attractive or elegant; contemporary descriptions cite her as having a broad face with a crooked nose and a stocky frame. One contemporary account describes her as having “tended to stand like a soldier” [1]. She preferred trousers to court dress and had no taste for luxury. (Her unusually masculine presentation has been the subject of much scrutiny throughout the years. It must be said that the letters between her and her king, the young Sounis Foniάς [2], indicate a loving and happy relationship [3], something fairly unusual for royalty of that era.) She was trained in use of a sword and enjoyed hunting, riding in the mountains, and playing chess. 

[1] This particular manuscript, which was recovered from the Royal Library of Eddis before it was relocated to Attolia, has seen considerable degeneration over the years and substantial portions of the text are missing, making it difficult to ascertain its purpose. The veracity of this account is debated by scholars, but the anonymous writer does seem to have some familiarity with Eddisian court life.

[2] From “φονιάς”, meaning “murderer”, a reference to the young king’s infamous killing one of his own barons at Elisa in front of dozens of witnesses.

[3] Letters courtesy of the Royal Library of Sounis at Matinaea.

In contrast, Attolia Έndoxē, born Irene, was only a minor princess before the death of her father the king. Her first husband died under mysterious circumstances [4] and while her barons bickered, she engineered a coup and took control of the throne in the year 803. For the next ten years or so, she ruled unilaterally in opposition to her barons, aided by her master of spies and a Queen’s Guard that was loyal to her personally. Widely praised as a great beauty, she took refuge in formality, ceremony, and ritual. If Eddis was a benevolent guardian of her people, Attolia was a goddess, to be worshipped and feared.

[4] Court rumors and Attolian lore suggest the young Princess Irene poisoned him at their wedding banquet, though there has never been decisive historical evidence supporting this. However, if indeed she did, it is unlikely she would have left behind anything linking her personally to the act.

There were early conflicts between the two, the most obvious being the brief and brutal war over the maiming of Eddis’ Thief [5]. After it was concluded by the marriage of the Thief to the Queen of Attolia, the two queens almost never spoke publicly or privately about this incident, despite the depth of emotion it must have provoked. A rare exception is an exchange of letters in the year 815, about a year after the marriage of the Thief and Attolia.

[5] For the sake of clarity, Eugenides is referred to as “The Thief” before his marriage, and “Attolis” or “Annux” after.

**Excerpt of letter from the 16th Queen of Attolia to the 14th Queen of Eddis, from the Royal Archives of Attolia at Ephrata**

_...it was the anniversary yesterday. It has been getting better, but he still gets the nightmares, always on the anniversary. He screams and pleads in his sleep, and I am reminded anew of the depth of what I have done to him._

_The foolishness of saying this to you, of all people, does not escape me. The gods may have forgiven me, but I cannot imagine you have._

**Excerpt of letter from the 14th Queen of Eddis to the 21st Queen of Attolia, from the Royal Archives of Attolia at Ephrata**

_Dear Irene,_

_You must be desperate indeed, for I know how you despise discussing the matter at all. This must be the first time you have brought it up since I have known you. I promise to contain myself to a few paragraphs, and we can all go on carefully ignoring the matter._

_You know I am known to be frank, and you know I will never be anything but frank with you. The truth is, I pretend to forgive and forget because there is no other choice. I’ve debated with myself many times, wondering if I would have done the same thing, in your place, and I have never come to any satisfactory conclusion. I suspect I never will._

_I once told Sophos that we do not all need to be throwing inkwells. While I meant it in a rather different context, I was being somewhat disingenuous. I have no need to throw inkwells because I can withhold the precious waters of a river and raise an army. The fact is that I went to war with Attolia out of anger, but the person I was angry at was myself. Oh, I was furious at you because you had hurt someone I loved and certain you had done it because you hated me, but the majority of my anger was reserved for myself, who had foolishly let my Thief walk into the arms of someone who hated me, hated him._

_In spite of everything, I find I am perversely glad of the outcome. I do not know if I could do what Eugenides has done, but his particular brand of madness has always been beyond my comprehension. If he is happy, I am satisfied. If both you and he are happy--and I can see that you are, despite the inkwells--then all more the better._

_I very much want for you to be happy, Irene._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It pleases me greatly to think that in a few hundred years, Eugenides' account of the events of The Thief that he wrote and put in Eddis' library will confuse historians as to its accuracy. Poor Eugenides. He is renowned in three countries for his lies, after all.
> 
> Matinaea (the location of Sounis' royal library) is one of the towns Eugenides, Sophos, and the Magus stopped at during the events of The Thief. Sophos probably found it pretty funny to build his royal library there.


	3. Correspondance

**From Chapter 2: Correspondence**

...It was after the marriage of Attolia and the Thief that the two queens began a prolific and decades-long correspondence, the record of which can be seen in the Royal Archives of Attolia. The queens' letters cover a broad range of topics, from military strategy to personal anecdotes, and are unusual for monarchs in their frankness and intimacy. In this letter from Attolia to Eddis in the year 817, Attolia discusses her pregnancy with an openness she is reported to have never displayed before her court, or even among her closest attendants. 

_It is utterly terrible. My feet are aching and swollen, my back is knotted horribly, and even the most bland of foods tends to make me ill. I cannot fit into any of my clothes--to be expected, but it irks me nonetheless. Everything irks me nowadays. Even the most stalwart of my attendants have begun tiptoeing around me. Eugenides' personal guard is scared to look me in the face, annoyingly enough, since he had almost broken the habit. I feel like a ship laden with cargo, weighed down and waterlogged, followed constantly by a fleet of smaller ships. Or maybe a bull--a bull surrounded by flies._

_Eugenides found it all amusing at first until he heard my physician natter on about the dangers of childbirth. Now if I mention the slightest hint of discomfort and he goes white as a sheet. He is, I think, completely terrified, and as a result almost completely useless. I am having to run the kingdom without him. Of course, I have run it alone far longer than I have run it with him, but I confess I have grown accustomed to his help, if one may call it such. (On that note, if you could talk some sense into him, or at least provide a distraction, I would be eternally grateful.)_

_The more foolish members of my court persist in conveying their wish that I bear a son. I keep my face blank, and nod, and with each one of them that does it, I hope even harder it will be a girl. Oh, Helen. To bear a girl into this nest of vipers, with the danger of the Mede looming on the horizon, seems the height of foolishness, but I hope for it anyway. For my daughter, at least, I could assure that things went right. She would be heir in her own right, never treated as a tool or a pawn, and never having to take power by force._

_I would want her to be like you._

_Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I look forward to your upcoming visit. It will be nice to see you._

Seeing these letters, and many others like them, it begins to become clear how strong a relationship the two queens shared. And yet, this was only the beginning. The two queens would continue for many years as a pair, underestimated by the empires and continental powers that surrounded them, as a force for change in their own kingdoms and in the wider world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million thanks to tumblr user cybernetic-catriarch and their friend for helping me with the Greek, and to tumblr user pie-baker-of-doom for doing a last-minute beta for me! (And I do mean last minute!) You guys are the best and I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks also to the tumblr Queen's Thief fandom in general for offering their help so generously. :D
> 
> This has been great fun to write, and I hope to expand on this work in the future! There were a lot of ideas I didn't get to because of time restrictions.


End file.
